


Fortitude

by pegasusgirl28



Series: Fortitude [1]
Category: Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? | What Shall I Name This Love?
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26953711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pegasusgirl28/pseuds/pegasusgirl28
Summary: Summary:  Alternate Universe story of the Arnav Singh Raizada kidnap track of IPKKND canon.  Kushi, Manorama and in later chapters, Nandkishore or NK, investigate Arnav's disappearance and kidnapping.
Relationships: Khushi Kumari Gupta/Arnav Singh Raizada
Series: Fortitude [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1966939
Kudos: 2





	1. Questions and No Answers

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? | What Shall I Name This Love? belongs to 4 Lions Films, Gul Khan, Star Plus, etc.. I am only playing in their sandox. No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Author's Notes: The series will have events that occurred in IPKKND but not all of them and not in the timeline in which they happened as I moved them around to fit my series better.

Questions and No Answers....Chapter 1

"Kushi, I am fine. Kushi, I love you." Arnav's words kept repeating themselves over and over in Kushi's head. With her arms curled around her knees which were drawn up to her chest, Kushi sat by the poolside outside her and Arnav's room. She gazed up at the stars and whispered a prayer for Arnav's safety and wellbeing to the four brightest stars. Resting her cheek against one knee, she mused out loud, "Why did Arnav tell me that? He's never said it before. Arnav thinks that I had an affair with Shyam. So, why did he say it now so casually? Something must be going on, is he in danger?" Still asking herself these questions as she readied for bed sometime later, Kushi heard her mobile phone vibrate with a text message. 

The text message read, 'Reached London. Battery low. Will call later.'

Kushi fell asleep wondering why Arnav had text her saying that he was in London when in his telephone conversation with the family, he said he was in Scotland.

The next morning she decided to go the police with her suspicions. Kushi arrived at the police station and was about to enter when she thought the police would have to investigate Arnav's disappearance which meant alerting and worrying the whole Raizada family. What would that do to Anjali and her baby? No, she couldn't tell the police.

"How am I going to find Arnav now?" Khushi asked herself mentally as Hari Prakash opened the front door. Not really focusing on where she was going, Kushi walked right into Manorama.

Manorama had been reading the newspaper which fluttered to the floor as she walked off to her room.

"Mamiji, your news..." Kushi started to call out when she saw the ad for the detective agency at the bottom of the page. Putting her mobile phone down on the edge of the coffee table, she found a red marker and circled the ad. She was about to put the newspaper in her purse when Nanji called her to go and help her in the kitchen. When Kushi returned to the salon she saw Shyam reading it. She was about to walk in and snatch the newspaper out of his hands when Anjali came down the stairs and asked her husband to go upstairs with her. Kushi waited until Anjali and Shayam were completely out of sight before hurrying into the salon ad stuffing the newspaper into her purse. She then proceeded to leave the mansion and head for the detective agency.

Kushi sat inside the private detectives' office and waited to speak with them. One was writing on a chalkboard. The other detective sat at his desk and was on the telephone with another client. Once the detective got off the phone, she explained about Arnav's disappearance but left the private investigators' office when they told her that they charge 20,000 rupees per day for expenses.

Manorama had followed Kushi and been watching her through the slats of the blinds on the window of the detective agency. As soon as Manorama saw Kushi stand up, Manorama backed away from the window and returned to the rickshaw waiting for her. So Kushi did not see her as Kushi passed Manorama's rickshaw to an empty rickshaw up the street and Kushi got into it and told the driver to take her back to the Raizada mansion. The rickshaw holding Manorama went behind and also took her home.

Once at home, Kushi noticed her mobile phone was missing from her purse. She began to search for it all through the bottom floor of the house. Kushi was in the salon looking for it when Shyam entered and asked, "What are you hunting for?"

Kushi fibbed and said she was trying to find the newspaper but as she didn't see it she would retire to her room.

Shyam smirked and fingered Kushi's mobile phone which was in the pocket of his pants as he watched her go upstairs.

The End...Chapter 1


	2. Listening Behind the Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manorama Raizada overhears a conversation between Kushi and Shyam.

Listening Behind the Door....Chapter 2

Inside of Arnav and Khushi's bedroom, Shyam was harassing Khushi with the pretext of returning her mobile phone to her.

"Why did you want the newspaper so badly, Khushi? You even left your mobile phone behind in the salon." Shyam snickered at her.

Khushi lied, "I wanted to read my horoscope and read the recipe in the food section of the paper. So, I put my phone down on the coffee table. I forgot it when Naniji called me. Give me my phone." 

Shyam holds his hand out, Khushi's mobile phone laid in his palm and says, "here's your phone."

Khushi snatches it out of his hand.

Shyam taunts Khushi, "Why are you so worried? Why do you need it so urgently? Do you think Arnav is going to call you right now?" He leers at Khushi as she stares at him with disgust, fear and tears welling in her eyes.

"If I am worried or not, it's none of your business," retorts Khushi a bit testily. Her voice raised once again Khushi asks, "I thought you were here to inquire about those papers you needed? When Arnav was here that was all you ever asked about. Now that he is not here, you are not interested in those papers any longer?"

Exasperated, Shyam tells her that he has corrected those old papers, he no longer needs them. That's why he had not asked her for them again. 

Shyam raises his hand to touch her face. "Why do you cry for someone one who has made you suffer so?" He whispers, "Why do you punish me and not him?"

Taking a step back, Khushi lowers her voice and spits out at Shyam, "don't you dare even try to touch me! Get out of our room!" 

He doesn't move, so Khushi starts to walk out when Shyam grabs her arm in a bruising grip.

"Let me go!" hisses Khushi quietly as she tries to wiggle out of his hold.

Shyam starts to ask a question but makes a face and drops his hand as he hears Hari Prakash shooing Lakshmi outside in the hallway. He then peeks out to confirm that no one is in the passage way before rushing out of Khushi and Arnav's room. 

What neither Khushi nor Shyam realized was that there had been someone else out in the corridor near Khushi and Arnav's bedroom door. Manorama paused as she heard raised voices from inside the room. Why had phati sari visited that detective agency? Why was Shyam inside of Arnav and Khushi's room? What was that about Arnav bitwa calling now? And what was this, why was Shyam so worried about Khushi? What papers? Why would Shyam ask Khushi about paperwork and not Arnav? Something fishy was going on here. Well, Detective Manorama Raizada is on the case! thought Manorama to herself and backed away from the door to hide behind a pillar when she saw Lakshmi and Hari Prakash in the the corridor. She was still hidden there when she saw Shyam stride angrily out of Khushi and Arnav's room and head towards the living room.

A few minutes later, Khushi still inside her room is changing a pillowcase thinking about Shyam's words when the door to the room begins to open. She strides angrily towards the door, and says, "I am warning you..." and stops surprised. "Mamiji, it's you."

Manorama enters the room and sits on the green sofa. "Hello, hi...bye...bye. Phati sari, I have to ask you a few questions. He said he was well when we talked to him last night. What did Arnav tell you when he spoke to you?" 

A perplexed Khushi began to ask, "why do you..."

Manorama interrupted her, "I am the one asking the questions. You are the one providing the answers not more questions, understood?"

Khushi stood by the sofa, nodded her head yes even though her thoughts swirled, wanting to know why Mamiji was asking about Arnav. She responded to Mamiji's question, "Arnav told me he was fine."

Manorama sighed, "Hello, hi...bye...bye," again and walked out of the bedroom leaving a confused Khushi behind.

The End....Chapter 2


	3. Allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manorama and Kushi join together to discover Arnav's whereabouts.

Chapter 3...Allies

Kushi rapped on Manorama's door. 

Manorama bade Kushi to enter as she finished touching up her makeup.

Kushi entered the room and was about to speak when Manorama beat her to it. "You missed lunch and I don't believe the story about you visiting your sick father. Now, where did you really go?"

Manorama wasn't expecting the words that flowed out from Kushi. 

When Kushi finally stopped talking, she showed Manorama a text. 

Manorama agreed with Kushi that they would work together to get to the bottom of Arnav's whereabouts. 

Kushi's next step was to get the airport security video of the day Arnav was at the airport and they could go over it together, today.

Manorama began detecting when she came out of her room and crashed into her son Akash whom was heading back into the office.

Several hours later, Manorama donned her all black spy outfit. She hardly ever wore pants but she doubted anyone would recognize her.

Arnav bitwa was in trouble. Neither Akash nor Arman knew about the business deal in Scotland; Arnav was not in any of the 5 star hotels in Scotland; and the mobile phone operator had been speaking Hindi not English as a Scottish operator would have been. Manorama waited impatiently for Kushi to return.

A dejected but determined Kushi came home shortly afterwards. Kushi explained to Mami that the airport security didn't release the video but Kushi had the address of the warehouse where all the security tapes were stored. Before the duo left to the warehouse, Manorama convinced Kushi to put on a black outfit like hers.

They found the tape and viewed it. Both were shocked by what they saw. Arnav had been kidnapped! Five men had escorted Arnav out of the airport.

Kushi stole the tape and they returned home. Kushi convinced Manorama that they should look for the kidnapper with the tattoo at the base of his thumb.

Early, the next morning before any of the other Raizada family were up, Kushi and Manorama were in a rickshaw on the way to a tattoo parlor. They were at the fourth tattoo parlor when they found the design of the kidnapper's tattoo. Manorama distracted the shop owner while Kushi wrote down the client's name and address. Once they left the parlor, they walked across the street to catch a rickshaw. 

Kushi looked up and quickly pushed Manorama against the side of the building under construction.

End...Chapter 3


	4. Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manorama begins to realize the depth of Kushi's character

Chapter 4...Strength

"What are you doing, Khushi?" Manorama shouted as Khushi shoved her to the side and Manorama stumbled against one of the posts of the construction site they were standing in front of.

Khushi had been struck by the wooden plank that fell from the roof of the building. She lay face down on the ground, immobile and unconscious.

A frantic, "Phati sa...Khushi are you alright? Wake up now Sanka Devi, " fell from Manorama's lips as she knelt at Khushi's side.

Two men rushed to help get the plank off of Khushi's back. Once the plank was removed, one of the men quickly pulled out his mobile phone and called for an ambulance.

With trembling hands, Manorama reached out to touch Khushi when Khushi's mobile phone rang. Mamiji answered it but before she could say a word, the voice on the other side of the line said, "This wasn't an accident. Don't tell anyone about Arnav. He's alive for now but if you tell anybody..." At that moment, she disconnected the call because the ambulance and the paramedics had arrived. Manorama was helped to her feet by one of the passersby and she then clambered onto the ambulance to accompany Khushi to the hospital.

A neck brace was placed on Khushi as she was carefully placed onto the stretcher and lifted into the ambulance.

They were at the hospital within ten minutes. 

Some time later in one of the hospital rooms, quiet cries echoed through the room.

Tears rolling down her cheeks, Khushi murmured, "Baby...baby is now a sitārā." Silent sobs wracked Khushi's body as she sat dazed in the hospital bed.

A shocked Manorama sat on the chair by Khushi's bedside and held Khushi's hand. 

Suddenly, Khushi's grip tightened within Manorama's hold. Khushi, implored,"Mamiji, I didn't know I was pregnant. I would never have done anything to endanger or harm Arnav's baby!" 

Manorama shushed Khushi by tenderly smoothing a loose strand of hair off of Khushi's face and answered, "I know,Khushi bitaya. Sleep. Rest. I will stay here with you. The family thinks we are staying the weekend at the spa. That doctor is really a good voice actor."

Laying on her side because the plank bruised her head and back and the debris and rocks of the construction side had cut her stomach and her upper legs, Khushi smiled at Mamiji as Mamiji wiped the tears off of Khushi's face. Khushi drowsily agreed about the doctor, wished Manorama a good night and drifted off into sleep.

Manorama Singh Raizada's thoughts whirled. Phati sari had protected her. She had been so wrong about the girl. According to the doctor, Khushi had been three months pregnant which coincided with the Bali-Delhi honeymoon. A tear leaked out of the edge of one of Mamiji eyes as she thought of the child whom had been lost before even having a chance to live. She sniffled for a few minutes more before she stopped and her face hardened. Why had they kidnapped her Arnav bitwa? It wasn't for money, it had been five days and there had been no request for ransom. So what was the motive? A sudden suspicion entered Manorama's mind. 'Did this abduction have anything to do with those papers that Khushi and Shyam talked about? Could it be about a business gone wrong? That would fit the kidnappers not asking for a ransom, but rather that they needed Arnav for some business matter? It also makes sense that Arnav would be kept close, somewhere here in Delhi and not in Scotland like she and Khushi thought.'

End...Chapter 4

*Notes*: 

sitārā means star in Hindi.

Bahli-Delhi honeymoon inspired by "Touch" IPPKND fanfiction by phati-sari on fanfiction.net.


End file.
